A MAN was going to bathe. He had his towel on his shoulder. His wife said to him, “You are worthless. You are getting old and still you cannot give up some of your habits. You cannot live a single day without me. But look at that man! What a renouncer he is!”
Husband: “Why? What has he done?”
Wife: “He has sixteen wives and he is renouncing them one by one. You will never be able to renounce.
Husband: “Renouncing his wives one by one! You are crazy. He won’t be able to renounce. If a man wants to renounce, does he do it little by little?”
Wife (smiling): “Still he is better than you.”
Husband: “You are silly; you don’t understand. He cannot renounce. But I can. See! Here I go!”
That is called intense renunciation. No sooner did the man discriminate than he renounced. He went away with the towel on his shoulder. He didn’t turn back to settle his worldly affairs. He didn’t even look back at his home.
He who wants to renounce needs great strength of mind. He must have a dare-devil attitude like a dacoit’s. Before looting a house, the dacoits shout:”Kill! Murder! Loot!” (103)